Pages

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing

Jim O'Rourke – Bad TimingDrag City, 1997Acquired: Love Garden, Used, 2006Price: $9Two acoustic guitar-based instrumental records in a row! This one, however, is one of my most-played. I don't know why, but once I bought this I ended up listening to it every night before bed. I guess because it's really relaxing. At the same time, what O'Rourke (of mixing other people's records, Sonic Youth, and making Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot totally rad fame) is doing here is deceptively experimental. This doesn't really sound like anything else. There are four tracks and they're all about ten minutes long, and they never seem to get old. I'll listen to this record over and over because it not only helps me concentrate on stuff (I listened to it persistently when I needed to do homework) but it's just plain fucking good. My interest was first piqued when I read that Jeff Tweedy would listen to this constantly while driving around and smoking cigarettes on little breaks from recording YHF. I didn't know what to expect from this, given that O'Rourke is known for being a fucking weirdo. With his music, that is. I mean, I got a CD at KJ as assistant Music Director that featured him with Carlos Giffoni and Merzbow and it was a really abrasive hour long noise track. And then there's this. It's serene and organic. It builds and ebbs and flows. It seems like this is O'Rourke showing everyone that he's not only a fantastic guitarist, but that he can make more traditional music in addition to his experimental stuff. His latest record, The Visitor, is like a return to Bad Timing. It's one long 40 minute track and it's mostly based around acoustic guitar. And it's really good. Go figure.

4 comments:

I've been checking out your blog and I really think it's a great idea to keep track of a collection not only in names and jpegs, but also in locations, prices and, definitely, the pictures of you holding the record. I'm working in an art project that might resemble yours, although what I do is to draw every record of some selection I make. Right now, I'm doing something like an hommage or an altar of Jim O'Rourke, and I'm working in this show project in which I have to do a re-cover of a record. I wanted to ask a little favor to you: I live in Mexico city, not to mention that Jim O'Rourke is not even known here, and the possibility of buying an O'Rourke vinyl is of hundreds of dollars via any webpage that might send a very low treated record. I have never been able to see the back cover of 'Bad Timing', by Jim O'Rourke (my second favorite record, just behind Eureka, also by Jim), and I wanted to ask you, if you have a jpeg of it, do you think you could send it to me? I'd be totally in debt with you and I'd thank you so much! If you can't, it's ok. Have a nice day, really nice blog, and best regards!

Funny story. The back cover of the record is identical to the front cover! If you're looking for O'Rourke vinyl, you can get the re-issues over at insound.com. I don't know if they ship to Mexico City, but most online webstores tend to do international shipping these days. here's the link to O'Rourke's page, they've got all of them! And for pretty cheap too! Hope this helps!

Hello Ian, thank you so so so much for the fact!, I'd never thought that the back cover was exactly the same, that really helps me. I'm already checking in the link you sent me for the vinyl (good prices, indeed). Once again, thank you so much and good luck from Mexico City!